Candy Foxx - The Jewels that come from dreams

Trying to be unique and to stand out can be a tricky thing. Especially fi there are so many beautiful items to choose from. You can see jewels at any"corner" on the internet. But which to choose?

Candy Foxx is a chic online shop with beautiful items and very well done photos. Algina, the owner makes variate models that you can choose from. Plus, all the jewels are handmade by her. I've talked to Algina and she told me how she gets the ideas to make such unique jewels and how she started having her own business.

Who is the person behind Candy Foxx?
Behind Candy Fox you will find 25 years old lithuanian (but deep in the heart ukrainian) girl, who looks younger than she is, and smarter than she looks. Lots of my friends say that I'm a strange person and sometimes I believe what they say.

Where did you get the idea for your business and when did you get started?
I started to create since I was a child. I was creating everywhere and from everything. I had such a big imagination (I was making houses from mashed potatoes while I was eating, drawing on the walls under the carpet and painting all the time). My passion to create jewelry came when I was a teenager with strange taste of fashion, I was creating jewelry for myself. And I was creating it for myself and working since my life changed a half year ago for 360 degrees. I had a difficult spinal surgery with strong rehab and huge amount of limitations but I wanted/needed to do something, so I re-opened my CandyFoxx store on Etsy.

How did you come up with your brand name?
I have two wonderful and strange pets- supersweet and superfriendly dog Chiquita and cat Tyku, which is extremely aggressive and furious. So I decided, why couldn't I have another strange and imaginary animal- fox? Candy Fox. So this is how the story began.

What does it take to make one jewel?
I'm the owl, all ideas are coming in the night while I'm lying in the bed (I have insomnia so it's the perfect time to think about or see future jewelry in my head) and in the morning I try to remember what I saw. I don't like to use only one technique, I love to create from different materials this is the reason why is my Etsy shop has so many different jewelry (but most of them have similar style of photography).

The process begins with the jewelry furniture shop where I'm going with my supersweet dog. I always buy more than I need (you know, some girls are buying clothes, some of them are buying beads, ropes, acrylics and other things, I'm this type of woman...). Then I'm starting to make jewelry with loud music, cat on the table and a huge cup of tea or homemade latte. At first I'm making bases and beads for jewelry (usually it is polymer clay or plastic) and then starting to use my imagination. Very simple recipe of jewelry making! Use your imagination! And then make some good photos!

Which one is your best seller?
My best seller are simple black stud earrings with gold acrylic circle in the middle and "The little prince" earrings. And if you are talking about the person, then few years ago I fell in love with Dori Csengeri. She is still my "jewelry Diva"!

How do people get in touch with you?
I sell my jewelry on Etsy. I don't know how they find me, maybe I use right SEO for my items? I always communicate with my clients as with my friends, other way would be difficult for me, I'm too openhearted for everyone...

Do you run your business full-time?
Yes. I opened my Etsy shop on July of 2013, but began to grow it in my head at the end of October, while I was in the hospital for one and the half month. I made right keywords, new descriptions and titles. Now it is my full-time job because I'm really limited but I believe soon it will be the real full-time job I just needed some time to realize many things.

Are you participating or managing any other project you would like to talk about?
I'm thinking about opening one more shop. Before my rehab I bought a huge amount of acrylics, brushes and canvas but right now I lost my muse. Right now I'm waiting for the right moment in my life.

I see a lot of people starting their business online. What do you think makes you stand out from the crowd?
Enthusiasm. I try to see positive things in everything I do. Sometimes it is quite difficult but I have people around who believe in me. It helps a lot!





For more jewles visit Candy Foxx on Etsy.

A peek inside Africa – Rwandan home decor, jewels and baskets

As I searched for handmade products around the world, I came across beautiful baskets, jewels and home docor items from Rwuanda, Africa. They are made by local artisans by natural materials and are delivered around the world.

 Azizi Life is a comunity that gathers artisans from Rwuanda and helps them sell their products. Azizi Life isn’t all about selling items, its more about bounding people on different sides of the world.

         
Azizi Life is currently working with around 30 different independent groups of artisans. That means that about 280 artisans make handmade products every day.

Azizi was „born” during 2007 and 2008, when Food for the Hungry partnered with the Rwandan government to help train and promote small businesses within the rural communities of southern Rwanda. The idea of this initiative was to give local people the skills necessary to run successful businesses.

Talking in numbers, Azizi Life produced a total of 25,968 products last year.
Tom MacGregor, one of the core office staff of Azizi Life told me what is the purpose of Azizi Life and how did that change the rwandan artisan’s life.

What does an artisan have to do to enter in Azizi Life program?

Originally Azizi Life started with artisans that had been part of a training program run by the Rwandan Government for the rural communities in the Southern part of the country. As we grew we took on new artisans, who were producing products that were unique or different from the ones we already had groups making. We have worked with most of our groups of artisans for over five years now. We would like to take on new groups, however, we can not do that until we get our existing artisans, working up to their full potential and capacity. Therefore we really need to increase the sales so we can do this.

What are his or her benefits in entering Azizi Life?

We help our artisans, get access to the larger global market and we pay on average 3 times what the artisan would get from selling their products locally. To export and sell products in the US or Europe, you have to fumigate the products and ship them, you have to communicate with overseas customers, you need somewhere to warehouse and distribute from and if you want to sell online you need a bank account in the US or Europe because you can not connect the banks in Rwanda to paypal or any of the other payment systems. We also help the artisans, improve the quality of their products and design new products (using traditional skills) that will be desirable to the Western Markets. All of these things are barriers for the artisan
 

to be able to make and sell products to overseas customers, Azizi Life helps them bridge that gap. Azizi Life also runs some community development programs such as we have provided artisans with first aid training and we help those artisans that want it to buy solar lights.

Tom also has a blog on squido http://www.squidoo.com/artisans-storiesand where he writes about the artisan’s handmade products and their lives. One of the story that caught my eye was about Alphonsine. She is a 35 year old woman with 11 children. See her story in this video.

What African materials are used for making the products?

Our products are made of Sisal, Banana Leaf, Local soft wood, forest & sweet grass and some African Fabrics. We also sell Imigongo art (in Rwanda only) which is made from cow dung.

 

Are the products made in a traditional African way?

The designs and products might be modern but, yes they are made using the traditional Rwanda techniques that have been used for many years.

 How do people buy the products?

People can buy our products in Rwanda at one of our two boutiques or they can purchase them online. We also sell products in the US via a catalog or via a few independent stores. We will be heading to the New York Trade Show in August and so we are hoping to find some more shops that can carry our products in the US.

  From what countries are your regular customers?

We have sold products in Rwanda, US, Canada, UK, Switzerland, Portugal, Ireland, Holland, Germany, Spain, Kenya and Hong Kong. We have regular customers in Rwanda, US, Canada and the UK. Although in Canada our products are only really sold through Global Mothers and in the UK we sell mostly to FH UK (Food for the Hungry UK) and Created.

How many tourists came in Rwanda to see the artisans and their products?

I am not sure how many specifically came to Rwanda to meet artisans. But in 2013 we had over 500 guests come along to one of our experience days.

Everyone who has come along on our experience days has loved it, Tom says. The tourist live with the artisans one day. They make baskets, see a traditional dance and eat traditional food.

 

„If you do one thing when you visit Rwanda, DO THIS! An Azizi Life Experience Day is a fun and affordable way to learn about the rural Rwandan culture through total immersion. Through working alongside the artisans, I was able to connect to them and come away with a greater appreciation for the “simple” things. I recommend the Azizi Life Experience Day to any person traveling in Rwanda that is looking for an unmatched, memorable, life-changing experience” – Ashley M from Conneticut

          You can read more about Azizi Life experience on Trip Advisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g2720361-d2701345-Reviews-Azizi_Life_Experiences_Rwanda-Gitarama_Southern_Province.html

 

Recycled materials turned into a work of art – Lula Dot

Have you ever though that a book could light up your room, and only your mind? Lucy Norman got the idea of creating a chandelier made completely out of books. But this is not her only invention. Lucy loves recycling and tries to create sustainable lights, furniture and jewellery from used materials. Many of her projects have dealt with the problem of waste. She has tackled this by reusing waste to create beautiful objects. This is how Lula Dot, Lucy’s company, was born. Lucy also works as freelance designer in London.
 
But who is Lucy Norman?

Lucy's designs explore the science and mechanics of the world. Her recent work has a focus on light and objects that explore its health benefits and beauty. Many of Lucy's projects centre on health, human awareness, and sustainability. Her company Lula Dot, started in 2009, is based in Hackney, London.

As I learnd from most of my interviews, passion for art of any kind runs usualy in the family. It’s Lucy’s case, too. Her mother is a photographer and her grandfather was an engineer. Lucy went futher and  graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2013 in Design Products MA. Her work was nominated for the Helen Hamlyn prize, the Eddie Mundy Brilliant Award and an NEWH Scholarship. In 2007 she graduated from the University of Brighton with a 1st Class Honours degree in Product Design BSc, winning the Engineering prize for best overall performance.

Lucy is also a genuine artist, not only by taking the best schools in the field, but also by the fact that she ofter dreams her ideas and she gets inspired by the world around her.

What does it take to make one product?

It's very diddicult creating new projects as I seem always to be held bac
by money.It takes a lot of ionvestment to create new 3Dimensional things. It costs to experiment . its always a big investment and a gamble.

Every project is different. It depends how the idea starts but there is a lot of experimentation, with processes, materials, finishes, shapes. etc

Please tell me the story behind the light reading chandelier. How did you come up with the idea?

 More books are printed every year, read and discarded. Even though many are taken to charity shops, they mostly go unsold and the charities have to pay for the books to be sent to landfill. For example 10,000 books a week from one charity will go to waste. There is currently no infrastructure set up to recycle the paper from books because the paper is low grade and the glue on the spine must be removed.

These wasted books are used to create an attractive chandelier. Every page is folded in half, producing a circular arrangement which hangs around a ceiling light.

With this project i started from the material. I did a lot of experimenting, playing and folding. The book ligt was actually just an off shoot from the main project which was book wall partitions:
http://www.luladot.com/shop/furniture/book_partition/

Is there a piece that attracts people more?

People love Light Reading the most but my new project Sunsill gets a lot of interest: http://www.luladot.com/shop/lighting/sun_sill/

What other projects do you have for the future?
 
I am also working on a new project with Lauren Davies (Designs of the year) www.heka-lab.com which we plan to show in Milan Salone in April. The Magpie Collection, is a series of beautifully crafted glass bottles and containers for storing homemade cosmetics. Gold-mirrored designs on the glass surfaces reflect the light on one side, and cast shadows on the other, creating beautiful overlapping patterns.The Magpie Collection is completed with an elegant set of handheld tools for use with the containers including a spoon, spatula, sieve, funnel and bottle brush.

Lucy has exhibited her work at Marsden Woo Gallery, 100% Design in London, [Re]Design in Newcastle and London, Ditchling Museum in East Sussex, Colette in Paris, the Geffery Museum in London and with the RCA in Milan. Her work is currently on show at the Science Museum in London, The Wat Tyler Country Park in Essex and the Museum of Design in Plastics in Bournemouth.

A peak inside the Universe – Dark Matter Jewelry – interview with Rana Levy

Who would’ve known that physics  and art have someting in common? „A galaxy is both beautiful and fun to look at but it is also on average 100,000 light years across. Meaning? It would take you 100,000 years to cross from one end to the other if you could travel at the speed of light” (Rana Levy). Knowing this interesting and important detail, Rana Levy brings you the Universe at your finger. Rana’s specialty isn’t art, but physics and mathematics. She is major in Washington state. But she brings the knowledges in these subjects into art, by creating designs for jewelry for people to wear.

 The jewelry he makes will mostly try and capture the beauty that is from the scientific realm, but I also try and include facts and information about what it is you are purchasing. Rana’s goal is to make beautiful items that also have something interesting about them, and to spread knowledge on some well known and some not-so well known ideas in science and physics.

Where did you get the idea for your business and when did you get started?

I started on November 24th, 2013. It has been a short 3 months but I am glad that I started and I love selling on Etsy. I decided one day I wanted a pair of earrings that looked similar to plug earrings I see, but I couldn't dedicate myself to actually stretching my ear size, so I decided to make earring studs that were pretty to look at and also similar to gauged earrings.The inspiration comes from my studies in physics and mathematics and I am constantly finding out new things in my science studies to be inspired by. Its a lot of fun.

How did you come up with your brand name?

I had several names conjured up regarding the shop but I thought the coolest one was Dark Matter Jewelry, inspired by the theoretical matter that has not yet been detected in physics. I think the name sounded elusive and attractive and mysterious.

How did you start this passion for jewelry?

Ive always dabbled in making items and art in general. Jewelry came more naturally as I have certain styles that I like and it felt very easy to come up with ideas, hence why I have so much variety in my shop. I think jewelry is a nice way to represent a person and what they stand for.

What does it take to make one jewel?

My process begins with custom made mixed pigments that I spend hours experimenting with. It takes a lot of time to get the colors right or get the shades I prefer. I then make my designs on glass which I then consider what it would look best on (earrings? Rings? A necklace?). Sometimes I make sets where I have a particular design on different items as a group, but everything in my shop can be made custom for a particular liking. I like to let my customers choose what type of metal finishes they like, or what style of glass they want the design on.

Which one is your best seller?

Currently Sunset, Constellation and Singularity always sell well. I think people like the Sunset design because its pretty close to a real sunset, as Constellation really does look like the night sky. Singularity is just so fun and funky looking, I think people like the dichroic flakes and fun glitter.

How do people get in touch with you?

People can contact me anytime on Etsy via the messaging system. A message will come up on the front of my phone and also get sent to my email as well as sending me a text ( I always make sure to answer quickly). I sell primarily on Etsy but I have sold on Ebay before and I do promote on Pinterest, Wanelo, and Facebook. However all monetary transactions are done through Etsy officially :)

Do you run your business full-time?

Definitely. As a physics and mathematics major in my senior year at university, this is my primary job and source of income. Its so much more than working anywhere else (besides maybe a physics lab!).

Are you participating or managing any other project you would like to talk about?

The only other thing I have going is I have an Etsy promotion team with a friend of mine. We have members post products and items from their shops and we all like to help each other out. Etsy teams are a great way of getting noticed in a busy online market place.

I see a lot of people starting their business online. What do you think makes you stand out from the crowd?

I think being inspired by something naturally makes what you create stand out. I think if I had chosen something else to be inspired by, maybe I would not have put 100% effort into making lovely items. My designs are inspired, of course, from loads of places, but I think my passion for physics is what makes it really stand out.

 Is there anything else you would like to tell me about yourself?
I started recently doing olympic weightlifting and occasionally compete and adore cats :)

You can see of Rana’s products on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/DarkMatterJewelry?ref=s2-header-shopname